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U.S. HHS approves $91 million vaccine facility at Texas A&M

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently approved the creation of a $91 million influenza-vaccine manufacturing facility as part of a joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline and the Texas A&M University System.

Officials announced on Tuesday that the facility will anchor the Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing in Bryan-College Station. The university is home to one of just three CIADMs being created in the U.S., the American-Statesman reports.

"(It is) one of the most significant developments ever in the state of Texas," John Sharp, the chancellor of Texas A&M University, said, according to the American-Statesman. "It's a game-changer not just for Texas but for folks everywhere."

The facility will speed up research, development and delivery of therapeutics and vaccines in case of pandemics or other national emergencies. Once the facility is up and running, the center will be able to supply 50 million vaccine doses within four months of receiving a flu strain. Initial doses would be ready within 12 weeks.

Gov. Rick Perry said the center would bring more than $41 billion in in-state expenditures in the next 25 years. The facility would also indirectly create more than 6,800 jobs, the American-Statesman reports.

"More importantly there will be lives that will be saved around the world because of what is happening in the state of Texas," Perry said, according to the American-Statesman.